


A Terminated Halloween

by barefootxo



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Terminator (1984)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-23
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-03 02:47:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5273636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barefootxo/pseuds/barefootxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Xander Harris dresses as a soldier from a possible future and another student dresses as a Terminator, the only real question is who will reach their objective first and who their objective is. YAHF.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Come with Me If You Want to Live

I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Terminator.  
  
~~  
  
Xander Harris was not having a good day. First he had missed going shopping with Buffy and Willow, a certain guilty pleasure in and of itself, thanks to that detention he had picked up for some imagined crime Snyder had dreamed up. That was strike one for his day. Then he discovered that Buffy was dressing as an empty-headed eighteenth century aristocrat, in an effort to impress Angel. As if Deadboy would be interested in one of the people whose throats he used to tear out, anyway. That had been strike two for Xander’s day. But this… this was the capper of a terrible day. Ethan’s, the only store Xander could afford, was completely out of military-style weapons. All they had left was an approximation of a sawed-off shotgun, which wasn’t particularly military. Xander sighed in resignation and began to leave…  
  
“Excuse me young man. Am I to understand that you find nothing in my shop that you could possibly like?”  
  
Xander turned to meet the gaze of a shifty-looking Brit character. “I’m afraid I’m on a very limited budget, sir… I had enough for a military-type weapon to go with my fatigues and not much else. Two bucks doesn’t go far nowadays.”  
  
The Brit seemed to stand there for a long time considering before he apparently came to a decision. “Well, I feel very moved to make you a deal, my lad. I too come from a relatively poor family and am willing to make a deal for the money you have on hand. This is the last night my store is in operation anyways, so I would be losing money on what you don’t buy anyways. Now, you say you have fatigues?”  
  
Xander nodded dumbly, not quite believing his luck was that good. His luck had never been that good.  
  
“Excellent, you can go as one of those Terminator fellows, then. You may have that sawed-off shotgun you looked at and perhaps this old trench-coat. You shall certainly look the part then…”  
  
What Ethan didn’t realise right away was that he had mixed his costumes up. The costume he had sold to Xander was not based on the terminator. No, he had sold the Terminator costume much earlier to another student of Sunnydale High. “Okay, sir. I’ll take it.” Xander was desperate and, while the newest one was more then five years old, the Terminator movies were supposed to be really good.  
  
Xander left, hoping this costume might earn him some respect, or at least a little less derision, from his classmates.  
  
**  
  
Letting his hair go wild and forgetting to shave that day had really made Xander scruffy, something that he feared would not go with his ‘Terminator’ look, but he couldn’t help it right now as he stepped into Sunnydale High with Lady Buffy and Willow the Friendly Ghost.  
  
Almost absently, Xander plucked a picture of Cordelia off of a poster. She was already campaigning for homecoming queen? He couldn’t believe that even she would start this early but then, that was Cordelia. He stuffed the photo in his pocket, deciding he’d perhaps take a shot at her later at how unhappy she looked in the picture. As Buffy and Willow continued to chat about Angel, Xander fumed silently and forgot about Cordelia.  
  
**  
  
Willow screamed in shock as she looked down at her seemingly dead body on the ground and was shocked as she saw wild lightning coming off of Xander in all directions as he appeared again, dressed in his costume, but looking a lot more scarred then before, as if he’d been through a war. Still, he was the exact same age as before.  
  
“Xander,-come-on-we’ve-gotta-find-Buffy-right-now.-All-hell-is-breaking-loose-and-I’m-dead-or-something-and something-really-strange-is-going-on.-Help-me-please.”  
  
Xander looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time. “Do you know where Cordelia Chase is, tonight?”  
  
Willow started in shock. “Xander, this is important. We’ve got to find Buffy and…”  
  
Xander’s face darkened with anger. “I don’t have time to find this Buffy, Miss. Now tell me, where can I find Cordelia Chase?”  
  
Willow squeaked in fright and quickly babbled out the location of Cordelia’s Halloween party. She couldn’t believe that Xander would talk to her that way. And there was no way that Xander would ever pick Cordelia over her or Buffy. Her jaw dropped as she watched Xander cross the street, hot-wire a vehicle and peel off towards the Bronze, where Cordelia’s party was likely just getting off the ground.  
  
The man who possessed Xander Harris’ body knew his mission, and no slip of a girl, dressed like a streetwalker no less, was going to keep him from his duty.  
  
**  
  
Cordelia Chase sat primly outside the Bronze, waiting for her date to show up. She was getting more then a little impatient with him. He was already late, and nobody stood up Queen C! It was probably her irritation that caused her to fail to notice Larry Blaisdell coming up to her, a really cool leather jacket, a pair of sunglasses and a funky looking rifle being among Larry’s accouterments. “Cordelia Chase?” he asked with some sort of accent.  
  
“Yes, Larry?” she asked, deciding to play along, hoping that her date would arrive soon. It was only as Larry began to point the all-too-realistic weapon at her that Cordy began to realise that something very strange and dangerous was going on here. “Larry?”  
  
The only response was a blank expression, coupled with an ominous phrase. “Hasta la vista, baby…”  
  
That would have been the end of Cordelia, had a convertible not careened into Larry just milliseconds before Larry could pull the trigger.  
  
Cordy looked over at Larry, who was even now getting up slowly and grasping for his rifle, and then at the driver of the convertible. She was shocked to see Xander Harris in the driver’s seat, and still more shocked when he spoke urgently to her. “Come with me if you want to live…”  
  
~~  
  
Enjoy... ;)  
  
Jasper


	2. Terminating the Spell

I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Terminator. Nor do I own the characters.  
  
~~  
  
  
Cordelia Chase could not believe the night she had been having. First she was stood up by that sleaze, Devon. That had been a real jolt to her ego. Then Larry Blaisdell, a member of the football team, had apparently decided on a palace coup. It was insane, certainly, but what other explanation could there have been for him attempting to end her life as he had? And finally, to Cordelia’s everlasting shock and dismay, she had been rescued yet again by Xander Harris, the self-proclaimed King of Cretins. It was something out of one of her nightmares.  
  
Finally, coming out of the shock that had been enveloping her until that moment, Cordelia began to register what Xander was saying. “…you Cordelia Chase?”  
  
Cordelia blinked. “What?”  
  
The scruffy dweeb appeared to grow irritated with her. “Are you Cordelia Chase? I have your picture, but I wanted to make double sure…”  
  
Cordelia shook her head in exasperation, unable to fully understand what in hell was going on. Wasn’t the vampire thing bad enough? “Look Dweeb Boy. I don’t know what drugs you’re on right now, but I’m here to tell you that this is definitely not funny. Do you follow me?”  
  
Cordelia was shocked to see no real reaction from Xander. There was no typical attempts at banter, no ill-timed jokes that seemed to break the tension, no anger and no smile. Replacing all of Xander’s typical responses was only a grim, stalwart determination. “I’m afraid you have me mixed up with someone else, Miss Chase. We’ve never met. My name is Harris, Sergeant Techcom ZE21615. I’m assigned to protect you.”  
  
Cordelia froze. Something, somewhere in the dweeb’s rambling caught her attention. His introduction seemed scripted, like it was something she should somehow recognise. It infuriated her to be unable to figure it out. And then Harris spoke the words that cleared everything. “You’ve been targeted for termination…”  
  
Cordy’s mind jolted suddenly, putting the pieces together. Larry attempting to kill her. Larry surviving a nasty hit from Xander’s obviously stolen convertible with little apparent injury. Larry’s funny accent. The heavy weaponry Larry, and Xander too, was carrying about. Xander stealing a car. Xander’s eerily familiar introduction. The word termination. “No. No, no, no, no, no, no Xander!! That was only a movie. It was a good one, granted. Arnold Schwarzenegger played the Terminator. It was a very good flick, Xander, but it was just a movie!”  
  
Xander arched his brow at her, his face infuriatingly calm, as he maneuvered them through traffic at a speed that was well above the limit. “I’m afraid you’ve still got me confused with someone else, Ma’am… My name is Harris, Connor Harris. I was assigned by my C.O. to follow the Terminator back in time and see to it that you remain alive at all costs.  
  
Cordelia snorted. “Let me guess. I am the mother of the future leader of the resistance against some funky machine empire or other. The system is called Spybot or something?”  
  
Harris nodded. “Skynet, yes. Though you are actually the wife ‘and’ mother of the future resistance leader…”  
  
“Ewwww… No, that’s just gross. There is no way that I would ever do something like that. Maybe you should look up some hillbillies in…”  
  
Harris smirked, finally beginning to look like his normal self again as he pulled them into the parking lot of a motel on the edge of town. “If you’d let me finish, Ma’am… I was saying that you are wife and mother to the future resistance leaders. Note the plural. John, my commanding officer, is your son. His father was the leader of the resistance against Skynet before John was old enough to really take over the good fight.”  
  
Cordelia shook her head in exasperation. “Okay, let’s pretend you are correct for the moment. Who is John’s father?”  
  
Again Harris loosed a particularly familiar smirk. “I’m afraid I can’t give you that information, Ma’am. I wouldn’t want to disrupt the time-line by prejudicing you in favour of one person, or against one person…”  
  
Cordelia growled in frustration at Harris. “Listen here Dweeb Boy! I don’t care what you believe, you’re going to tell me now or I’ll…”  
  
And with that she was cut off by Harris howling in pain and fainting.  
  
**  
  
“Break the bust. Shatter the bust.” Ethan begged, after enduring the epic torture session with his old friend Ripper.  
  
Ripper grinned ferally. “Thank you, Ethan…”  
  
**  
  
Cordelia dropped to the pavement of the parking lot, shaking Harris fiercely. “Harris? Harris, wake up!”  
  
Harris opened bleary eyes to her and grinned tiredly. “Cordy?”  
  
“Xander?”  
  
His smile widened. “Yep. It’s me again. I’m back. We’ve got nothing to worry about, now. Whatever I was being possessed by has stopped.”  
  
Cordy grinned broadly at him. “Glad to have you back, Dweeb Boy. The repartee was just lacking without you.”  
  
**  
  
Larry Blaisdell sat in a police car, next to an cop whose head had been blown clean off. “This is Car 38 Charlie. We have an officer down at Revello and Shepherd. Officer in question is dead. Suspect is a male Caucasian with dark hair, approximately five foot seven. He is believed to be involved in the kidnapping of Cordelia Chase from right in front of the Bronze. All officers be on the lookout for a red convertible with California Plate SN1D3R. That is all…”  
  
With that, Larry replaced the C.B. and pealed out of the alley with sirens blazing. The nightlife would take care of the cop’s body, according to his data banks. With nothing but the words of the unknown officer to go on, Sunnydale P.D. would find Cordelia Chase and her protector. After that, termination would be simple. He was, after all, programmed for this. He was a Terminator…  
  
~~  
  
For those who are uncertain, the spell is over. Xander is himself again, as are Buffy, Willow, etc... Only one problem... Larry is still a Terminator that is programed to kill Cordelia.  
  
Bonus points if you've figured out whose convertible Xander/Connor commandeered... ;)  
  
Jasper


	3. Law and Disorder

I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Terminator. They belong to Joss Whedon and James Cameron respectively.  
  
~~  
  
 _October 31st 1997  
Sunnydale Streets_  
  
Cordy hauled Xander out of the smoking vehicle. “Come on, Harris. We’ve gotta get out of here before things start to get messy.”  
  
Xander nodded, straining to get himself vertical. “Yeah, I gotcha Cordy. Moving.”  
  
“Freeze!”  
  
Xander looked around to see two cops with their sidearms pointed at him. He sighed with relief when he noted that his shotgun had returned to its previous fakery. At least he wouldn’t be arrested for possession or use of an illegal firearm. That was all he needed.  
  
“All right Harris, let’s see you lying on the ground and putting the shotgun away before we’re forced to shoot you resisting arrest.”  
  
Xander nodded and put the prop down before lying on the ground. Of all the times for the Sunnydale P.D. to be competent, why did they have to start tonight?  
  
“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…”  
  
**  
  
 _October 31st 1997_  
Sunnydale Police Station  
  
Detective Stein grinned as he sat across from Xander in the interrogation room. “Well Mr. Harris, it appears you’ve finally shown your true colours. Let’s see what we’ve got you on, shall we?” Stein’s smile broadened as he opened the folder. “My but we’ve been a busy boy tonight, haven’t we? Grand theft auto, vandalism, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of illegal firearms, first degree murder, kidnapping… You name it, we’ve got you for it.”  
  
Xander shrugged. He was in a prickly position. On the one hand he could legitimately say he hadn’t been in control of his actions that night. The problem with that was that it would not get him out of the most serious charge… murder. The only way he could do that is if he could claim he knew what happened that night, and diminished capacity such that you know what you did but can’t do anything to stop it is messy at best.  
  
Stein waited a moment before continuing. “So what’s your story gonna be, Harris? You gotta some lovely little thing that might excuse away killing a cop. Coz I’d really like to see you try.”  
  
Xander sighed. “What if I said I have no clue what you’re talking about?”  
  
Stein grinned. “We’ve got a witness that says you did, and he’s another cop.”  
  
Xander glared at Stein. “Where is this witness then, Detective. Coz I gotta tell you that either he saw a clone or he lying, because I haven’t seen any cop all night until those two that arrested me and I’m pretty sure they’re still living.”  
  
**  
  
Cordy sighed as she tried to explain to Detective Spillane for the umpteenth time. “I wasn’t kidnapped. I got in the car of my own free will.”  
  
Spillane smiled condescendingly. “Now, Miss Chase. Don’t you think we checked things out. Three witnesses claim to have seen Harris ram some poor sap with that car he stole and then inform you that you had to come with him if you wanted to live. Is that substantially true?”  
  
“Yes, but I was still in the car of my own free will. The other guy was trying to kill me. That’s what Xander meant.”  
  
Spillane grinned. “It’s okay Miss Chase, we can protect you from Harris. He’ll never see the outside of a jail if we have our way.”  
  
Cordy just couldn’t stop the tears any longer. When had this all gone horribly wrong?  
  
**  
  
Larry Blaisdell walked calmly up to the police station. All he currently had was a police revolver, since his gun had returned to plastic, but he needed to keep his weaponry concealed for now anyway. Besides, if cops had one thing here, it was weaponry.  
  
Larry walked calmly up to the person at the desk. “Is Cordelia Chase here?”  
  
“Yep.” The man didn’t look up.  
  
Larry nodded amiably. “Thank you.” He then proceeded to shoot the man, grabbing the man’s sidearm and shooting at the only other cop currently in sight.  
  
**  
  
Xander froze at the sound of the gunfire. “Ummm… Detective, isn’t a well-run police station such as this supposed to be… well… lacking in gunfire?” Xander quietly cursed/blessed Giles. That actually sounded rather sophisticated of him.  
  
Frank Stein merely ran out the door to try and help. This was the SPD. If vampires invaded someone would just complain to the Mayor. It had been a long time though since they’d actually had a gun-toting criminal try to shoot up their station.  
  
Xander, meanwhile, couldn’t help but make connections. ‘What are the odds of the SPD catching me in th act of being in a stolen vehicle. They aren’t exactly known for their competence. Solution: Somebody tipped them off. But who would tip off the cops in Sunnydale? Only someone who had something to gain, like perhaps someone who wanted Xander at the police station. But why, unless… unless someone was gunning for me or Cordy. Cordy and I have not been in the fighting the night business long enough to make any real enemies. That leaves only one option. Larry. He somehow retained his personality and, if the sounds I’m hearing are correct he also retained the build. But that means… Cordy!”  
  
The thought struck him like a ton of bricks. Larry was a Terminator and was out to kill Cordy and Xander only had the half-remembered skills of Connor Harris to work with. This was gonna be very messy.  
  
Slipping quietly from the interrogation room, Xander began searching rapidly for Cordy and, hopefully, some weapons. ‘Hold on Cordy, I’m coming…’  
  
**  
  
Cordy was utterly panicked. The sounds of bullets flying were getting louder and fewer as time went by, indicating that the fighting was getting closer and probably that the cops were mostly dead or dying. She could barely restrain a heartfelt shriek when a terrifying blast knock the interrogation room door off its hinges. “Cordy!?”  
  
Cordy pulled herself out from under the desk. “Dweeb boy?”  
  
Xander grinned, a police issue shotgun cradled in his arms. “I think it’s about time we checked out of this place, Queen C. I’m afraid that Larry has decided Halloween isn’t over yet.”  
  
Cordy shuddered at what that implied. “What exactly does that mean?”  
  
Xander sighed. “It means we need to get the hell out of here or you’re going to get terminated by that idiot, that’s what.”  
  
Cordy nodded, feeling unusually skittish. She wasn’t used to being the target of a gun toting killer. She wasn’t used to Harris being so… un-Harris either. The only time she’d ever heard of anything like it was when she’d heard about what Xander had said to Buffy when Willow and she got kidnapped at the start of the year… “Let’s blow this joint, Harris.”  
  
“Right there with you, Cor…”  
  
~~  
  
  
Jasper


	4. Next Moves

I don’t own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Terminator. They belong to Joss Whedon and James Cameron respectively.  
  
~~  
  
 _November 1st 1997  
1630 Revello Drive_  
  
Buffy stared at the day’s newspaper with growing horror.  
  
 _The SPD Massacre  
  
Last night the Sunnydale Police Department was attacked by a gun-toting individual. The young man in question was captured on video camera murdering the greater part of Sunnydale’s finest. The name of the youth in question is being withheld because he is a minor.  
  
The actual targets of this vicious assault seem to have been Cordelia Chase, daughter of David and Maria Chase, and Alexander Harris, son of Anthony and Jessica Harris. The reason for this attack is still unknown, but both of the primary targets appear to have eluded their potential murderer at this time. _  
  
**  
  
 _November 1st 1997  
Oxnard Holiday Inn_  
  
Xander dropped onto his bed with a pained sigh. He had banged his shoulder really badly as he and Cordy had slipped out a window. They had, ironically enough, re-stolen Snyder’s car and then hightailed it out of town before the termijock could reacquire them. “Are you done in there, Cordy?”  
  
Cordelia Chase slipped out of the bathroom and sat down on her bed. She had been busy cleaning bloodstains off of her shirt from when a cop had taken a head-shot close to her. “Yeah, Xander. All done. “ She was still in shock. And who could really blame her. A high school jock was trying to kill her for birthing a saviour who hadn’t been born and might never have existed.  
  
Xander breathed out shakily. “This is so weird. I know its just a movie, and yet all of my memories match up with our reality as it is now. It’s not like I remember the events of the movie. I remember a different version of the same idea that has been tailored to fit this reality. It’s all screwed up.”  
  
Cordy nodded shakily. “You know. I thought I’d seen it all. A couple of guys wanting to use my head for their Frankenstein project… An invisible girl looking to kill me because no one ever noticed her… A witch making me blind because she was having a midlife crisis and she wanted to relive being a cheerleader… I thought I’d seen it all. And then I have a robotic jock trying to kill me and I can’t help but be frightened by it. It’s stupid, ya know?”  
  
Xander sighed and stood up, planting himself beside Cordy and put his arm around her. “It’s not stupid, Cor. You have every right and reason to be scared. But you know what? We’re gonna make it through this. We are going to take whatever memories I can hold onto of Connor and whatever memories you can hold onto from those movies and we are gonna figure out a way to beat this guy. Wanna know why? ‘Cause I am Xander Harris and you are Cordelia Chase and we were not put on this Earth just to be cannon fodder for the Tin Man.”  
  
Cordy smiled softy through her tears. “Thank, Xand.”  
  
Xander grinned right back. “You’re welcome, Cor. And It’s the truth. You’ve gotta believe that.”  
  
Cordy leaned into him and held herself closer to him. “I’ll try…”  
  
Xander’s smirk went unnoticed by Cordelia. “Do or do not. There is no try.”  
  
Cordy slapped him hard upside the head. “You dork!”  
  
**  
  
 _November 1st 1997  
Sunnydale Motor Lodge_  
  
Larry Blaisdell sat on a bed, trying to pry a bullet out of his chest. The police of Sunnydale might not have been the finest in the world, but they still knew how to aim. Another bullet came loose and Larry smiled faintly before moving to the next one.  
  
Larry was reconsidering his mission. He knew he had to kill Cordelia, but he had to be a little more subtle. The police station fiasco meant that everyone and their uncle was looking for him right now.  
  
What he really needed was a skin graft. Larry smirked. There were demons that were more then happy to help for the right price. All Larry had to do was set a deal up with a demon. Larry kills a person and the demon skins the person and gives to Larry to replace his current covering. The facial skin was the real key, and maybe the hair too.  
  
Larry tapped his face with a stolen revolver. It was time to get himself a face-lift of sorts. Then he could go after Chase quite freely and no one would be the wiser. Yes, that would be most satisfactory…  
  
**  
  
 _November 1st 1997  
Oxnard Holiday Inn_  
  
Even as Larry made his plans to catch up with Cordelia, the target in question was getting way too friendly, way too fast with her old sparring partner.  
  
Xander broke off the kiss as an act of will. “Ummm… Cordy? Are we sure that is the time or the place for this sort of…”  
  
Cordy shot him a penetrating glare. “Are you going to make _me_ be the one to give the ‘and tomorrow I may die’ speech”  
  
Xander shrugged. “I was thinking more along the lines of a ‘you’ll live to regret this’ speech.”  
  
“Just as long as I live.”  
  
The phrase was like cold water pouring over Xander’s body and helped to steel his resolve. “You’re frightened for your life and not making rational choices and I’m denying you which shows that I’m the same…”  
  
Cordy blinked. “Huh?”  
  
Xander smirked slightly. “I’m a teenage guy who’s denying the chance of doing the horizontal salsa with the most beautiful girl in school. That’s irrational…”  
  
Cordy’s glare could have melted steel. “Whoever said anything about sex, Harris? I was talking about kissing so why don’t you spare me your delusions of grandeur.”  
  
Xander shook his head ruefully and did not argue her point. It didn’t matter which of them was right, Cordy was going to argue until she was, regardless. “Of course, Cor. Whatever you say.”  
  
As Cordy opened her mouth to start a tirade, Xander turned his mind to their next step. They had to get out of Oxnard tomorrow, preferably in a different car. After that, they had to procure weapons and plan how they were going to end Larry’s robotic existence…  
  
“Are you listening to me?”  
  
Xander’s mind snapped back into focusing on what was at hand. “Of course, Cordy. I understand.”  
  
Cordelia glared suspiciously at Xander but let things pass. They had bigger fish to fry..  
  
~~  
  
Jasper


End file.
